Lizardfolk

"See the brush line, yea? Don’t touch it, we’re guests here."

Armed guard escorting a caravan

Imposing bipedal lizards renowned for the strength and resilience of their bodies, Lizardfolk claim the swamps of the Rusgan as their home. A native Rusgan, or someone that’s quickly picked up on the culture, knows how to spot the markings signaling the edge of a Lizardfolk’s territory. A native or well adjusted person knows to respect their land, and they in turn shall be left in peace.
Considered savages by most civilized races, the Lizardfolk have quite the negative reputation across the Eye. In reality, they only wish to be left alone. To this end, they are known to respond quickly when their territory is imposed on by outsiders, turning to the universal language: violence. This method usually works, and because it works so often it is usually the first choice they turn to, at the misfortune of those that disrespect their territory.

Racial Modifiers

• Characteristics: Lizardfolk gain a +1 bonus to STR and WP, but suffer a -1 to INT. They are strong and resilient beings but are often drawn towards a simpler mindset. Eat, sleep, survive.
• Night Vision: Lizardfolk ignore any penalties caused by natural darkness, and reduce penalties from magically induced or absolute darkness by half.
• Tough Scales: Lizardfolk gain AT 3 to Cut and Thrust which does not count as an additional layer for the purposes of penalties.
• Acute Sense of Smell: Lizardfolk apply a +30 bonus to Notice, Search and Track when using smell, and a +1 to Perception checks for the same. Additionally, they may apply taste bonuses to their sense of smell due to their method of smelling.
• Adaptive: The varied environments that a Lizardfolk may call home have led to the development of specific traits or skills to aid them in survival. They gain a +20 bonus to any two Athletic abilities of the Player’s choice. Additionally, a Lizardfolk may purchase the Improvised Weapons module for 20 DP instead of its normal cost.
• Cold Blooded: Lizardfolk like much of their reptilian kin lack the ability to adapt to changes in temperature quickly. As such when a Lizardfolk makes a resistance check for something that has an opposite temperature than the biome they are currently in, they suffer a -20 to the resistance check. A Lizardfolk in a savannah will have difficulty resisting a cold based effect, and the opposite is true for a Lizardfolk resisting a fire based effect in a taiga. When it comes to temperate climates, they instead have a -10 penalty to resist any effect based on heat or cold, as their body has adjusted to the perfect temperature.
• Relentless Digestion: Lizardfolk boast one of the most aggressive natural digestive systems in The Eye. They are completely immune to Natural Disease that stems from consumed substances.
• Strong Jaws: A Lizardfolk may use their jaws as a natural weapon that requires proficiency in order to use without penalty, for which they count as unarmed. A Lizardfolk’s jaws deal Base Damage equal to 50 plus their STR. Additionally, these jaws may be used to attempt a Trapping maneuver at half penalty (20 instead of 40).
• Strong Neck: While a Lizardfolk has an opponent of the same size or smaller mostly immobilized by their jaws, they ignore the usual penalties to their own abilities and may move at their full Movement Value, as well as being able to attempt several special maneuvers, explained in Death Roll, Death Crush, and Death Launch. Additionally, if a Lizardfolk achieves a trapping result with any other weapon, they can transition to Trapping with their jaws instead as an action. When doing this, the Lizardfolk attempts the Trapping check once more without an attack roll, adding a +3 bonus to the STR or DEX contested check for the transition.
• Death Roll: The first and most notable maneuver of the Lizardfolk is the Death Roll, a Full Attack with their jaws that doubles their STR modifier to damage and ignores half of their opponent's Armor Type before any other reduction to Armor Type. This maneuver otherwise functionals identically to a Full Attack against a Trapped opponent.
• Death Crush: Owing to their powerful jaws able to crush even the most resilient materials, the Death Crush is a Crush action that can replace any number of attacks in a turn with Crushes. When making more than one Crush maneuver in a turn, the amount must be declared and all Crush maneuvers take a -1 penalty to strength for the contested check for every Crush maneuver beyond the first. For example, if a Lizardfolk declares they are replacing three of their attacks with Crush maneuvers, they apply a -2 penalty to their strength for the contest check for each Crush maneuver. Additionally, each Crush maneuver permits the held opponent a chance to free itself; for the Lizardfolk this contested check is made without penalty regardless of how many Crush maneuvers have been made within the turn.
• Death Launch: The third and final maneuver is an attack in which the Lizardfolk uses their currently Trapped opponent as an improvised projectile without the need for additional modules or proficiencies. The Base Damage of this improvised projectile is equal to the damage of the Lizardfolk's Jaws. Both the new target and the Trapped opponent must defend against the damage of this attack, with the Trapped Opponent retaining their current trapping penalties when making their defense.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The typical Lizardfolk is taller than the average member of most other humanoid races, though the difference isn’t massive. Like any other race, they differ in size just as much but one can expect them to be slightly bigger than the crowd, unless that crowd is composed of Orcs, of course. Their scales are typically rough and jagged, akin to a crocodilian, with large muscular tails behind them that act as a counter balance for their movements. This tail is vital for the use of a specific maneuver the Lizardfolk are known for, the death roll.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Lizardfolk are omnivorous, which is most unusual for a species so closely resembling ordinary lizards. While they prefer meat due to its high content of fats and other essential nutrients, they are known to scavenge edible flora when hunting isn’t an option. A rotting corpse is also fair game, whether it’s a Lizardfolk, Humans, or Orc; there’s an almost impressive lack of care of where the meat came from.

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

The culture of the Lizardfolk is scarcely fully understood by an outsider; while they may share many viewpoints with other races, they often hold a different stance on the same view. They share many of their views with Elves, honoring nature and doing their utmost to lessen their impact upon the world. This has led to most of the tension Lizardfolk have with other races, specifically with Humans and Goblins. Humans desecrate the land and warp it to isolate themselves from it, while goblins are infamous for their love of flame. In fact, damaging the trees and brush of a Lizardfolk’s territory is more likely to cause a violent retaliation than directly insulting or harassing one. They can endure, but they believe nature itself is fragile and must be protected. The lengths a tribe will go to avoid overhunting is seen as the primary limiter on why Lizardfolk tribes are much smaller than they have the potential to be.
The way a Lizardfolk views death is quite specific. While many races have traditions surrounding the death of their kin, the Lizardfolk do not. They see death as a final bliss, they no longer need to survive. They do not need to endure anything anymore, instead they can be cradled by nature once again. Death is seen in a highly positive light in Lizardfolk culture, and while they will do their best to avoid it, if it comes for them they do not fear it. For if they did fail to stave off death, they can instead be welcomed into the arms of the world and rest without worry. These viewpoints form many parallels with other races, but when explained it is often misunderstood by most. After all, your average Lizardfolk does not have the ability to explain their ideology as well as a scholar may. This results in misleading summaries such as 'death is good, final calm'.
An unintended result of this mindset is that a Lizardfolk warrior is more likely to put themselves in harm's way to achieve what they are after. After all, if they applied themselves to the best of their ability and still died, it is no longer a problem they have to worry themselves over. This is often seen as just savagery without intelligent thought behind it. As such, local guard deployments in villages and caravan guards will often try to avoid skirmishing with Lizardfolk if they can; enforcing an at least bare minimum respect of their land to avoid retaliation from local tribes.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Humans

Lizardfolk see the stone forests that humans construct, perceiving them as traitors to nature. They go through so much effort to disconnect themselves from the world that cradled their birth. Lizardfolk simply don’t understand this, and their usual nomadic lifestyle within their broad territories reduces any potential common ground they may have had. Regardless, Lizardfolk have been known to be tolerant of Humans as long as they respect their land and don’t try to warp it like they do elsewhere.

Elves

As Elves live in harmony with nature, they are warmly received by Lizardfolk that don’t have a reason to be hostile. While most of these interactions are neutral at best, there isn’t any negative strain between the two at all either. A Lizardfolk is more likely to trust an Elf over other humanoids.

Orcs

Lizardfolk favor Orcs as much as Elves due in part to their size, but their culture is also a factor. A similar trait between the two is the inability to flourish in social scenarios, as both Orcs and Lizardfolk are blunt and direct. An indirect result of this is that most Arrbothi Orcs will try to avoid unneeded conflict with the Lizardfolk where they can.
This is especially true in the case of the nomadic Steppe Orcs, who are likely to connect to the Lizardfolk on a deeper level as both share a nomadic way of life. So while the two meeting is rather uncommon, there is an instant sense of camaraderie.

Kobolds 

Lizardfolk despise Kobolds, seeing them as smaller, weaker imitations of themselves. While this isn’t true, the way Kobolds approach problems only pushes this stance further. A lizardfolk prefers to directly deal with their problems rather than hide, trick and deceive. Despite this tension, and partially thanks to how little meat is actually on a Kobold, the two races often trade meat and hides for various materials when they come in contact.

Goblins

Lizardfolk view Goblins as larger problems than they tend to actually be, and will do what they can to prevent their passage within the territory they control. This negative reputation stems from a Goblin’s love of fire, and their energetic and rambunctious natures.

Attribution

Written and contributed by CatChatter with permission.